THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



12 i 



strain it through a fine colander, and set it in 

 the ice chest till very cold ;. it is a very plens- 

 ant beverage. For hay pitchers, nothing ex- 

 cels good hot coffee, as it stimulates a little 

 and seems to raise sufficient internal heat, so 

 that perspiration flows freely, and ki-eps up 

 the Strength. 



Refreshing drinks are a very great comfort 

 during the summer licat, and give much 

 nourishment to the system, as one is not very 

 apt to feel hungry in the long summer days 

 when the thermometer ranges from 90 to 100 

 degrees in the ghade. The more a person 

 drinks the more he perspires ; yet one cannot 

 help craving some palatable beverage to cool 

 the parched lips and mouth in the heat of 

 summer. It is much better to take little at a 

 time, and to drink more frequently, than to 

 quaff a great quantity at a time. Frequent 

 bathing of the face and head is a great pre- 

 ventive of thirst. Men are not so liable to 

 get overheated if they occasionally wipe off 

 their faces with a wet towel or sponge. 

 People do not take half the pains to protect 

 themselves from the heat of dog days that 

 they do to guard against the inclemency of 

 cold, and there is double the danger arising 

 from overheating that there is from freezing.— 

 Fanmr^s Wife, in Qnmtrij Gentleman. 



OUR COMING WINE CROP. 



It is not improbable that in another decade 

 or two, judging from present progress, the 

 United States will be the greatest wine pro- 

 ducing country in the world. In all the states 

 where grape-growing with this view has gain- 

 ed some magnitude, there is a large and steady 

 increase in the quantity manufactured from 

 year to year ; and with advancing experience 

 in the amalgamation of the juices of different 

 varieties of grapes, the quality of tlie wine is 

 much improved. According to the census re- 

 turns California alone produced last year 

 4,50D,0U0 gallons, valued at SO.600,000, while 

 the vintage of New York, New Jersey, Ohio 

 and Missouri, last year, nearly reached in the 

 aggregate this total. The entire quantity of 

 wine imported into the United States in 1880, 

 from all countries, amounted to the aggregate 

 of only 4,500,0J0 gallons, valued at $6,000,000, 

 showing a heavy reduction compared with 

 many previous years. 



As a rule our domestic wines are much 

 purer than the imported, and a far greater 

 degree of cleanliness is observed in their 

 manufacture. A gentleman of this city, who 

 was in the wine-producing districts of France 

 some time ago, and saw the process of making 

 clarets, says that the juice is still expressed 

 by tramping with the naked feet, and that he 

 saw some of these "trampers" leave the vats 

 in which they were employed aud cross a 

 muddy road to get their dinner, without cov- 

 ering their feet, and on their return jumped 

 into the vats again with the mud clinging to 

 them 1 We suppose they depended on the 

 fermentation throwing off all impurities ; but 

 it is not reassuring to think about. 



FROM NATURE'S STOREHOUSE. 



Among the strange things seen by Hum- 

 boldt on the slope of the Cerra Duida, he re- 

 cords the discovery of "shirt-trees." 



They grow to the height of fifty feet, and to 

 obtain these garments the natives cut cylin- 



drical pieces two feet in diameter ; through 

 the upper opening peers the wearer's head, 

 and through lateral slits arms are thrust. 

 These sack-like garments are seamless, and 

 greatly resemble the ponchos and manos ex- 

 tensively used in New Granada and Peru ; as 

 we may easily imagine, these comfortable 

 coverings of native growth are extremely 

 coarse in texture, but if travelers's notes arc 

 to be relied upon, are regarded as very stylish 

 " business suits" for that scctitm of country. 



What easy times the house mothers of 

 those regions must have, if, in addition, "a 

 thread-end-needle tree " should chance to 

 spring up in their ample dwellings — useful 

 adjuncts when rents appearand "patching 

 season" approaches; their " shining steel," 

 a simple thorn growing at the end of the leaf 

 of the maguey tree; the "silken thread," 

 poetically speaking, a fibre which is attached 

 to the th(n-u. The fortunate seamstress 

 deftly plucks the thorn, warily draws forth 

 the delicate line of thread, and she is ready 

 for lur labor of love. 



In New Zealand may be found a strong 

 drapery made from the fibre of trees, and 

 when covered witli "impressed patterns," as 

 is often the custom, a firm and even beautiful 

 stufffor garments and house ornamentation 

 may be obtained. 



The tree, growing in the Indies, is utilized 

 by the negresses to furnish material, both 

 rich and delicate, for pleasant and comfort- 

 able garments. 



Whenever one finds the cork tree, a curious 

 process may be observed, for the natives of 

 those regions have deft fingers and can, by 

 distending the bark of a little switch the size 

 of a quill, bring into shape a jaunty little 

 cap, a convenient bag, or a useful whip, all of 

 them possessing the wonderful flexibility of 

 articles manufactured with the finest cord. 



HOW CATTLE ARE KILLED FOR NEW 

 YORK MARKET. 



In the city of New York there are two 

 large abattoirs or slaughter-houses. On the 

 east side of the city there is a collection of 

 several of these establishments, which occupy 

 the blocks bounded by East Forty-third 

 street. First avenue. East Forty-sixth street, 

 and the river front. The total number of 

 beef cattle slaughtered here last year amount- 

 ed to about 100,000 head. 



At the foot of West Fortieth street is what 

 is called the West Side Abattoir, which Is the 

 largest establishment of the kind in the city. 

 Its dimensions are 425 feet in length on 

 Fortieth street, and 300 feet on Thirty-ninth 

 street, with a uniform depth of 200 feet. The 

 annual kill of beef cattle here is 2,200 head 

 per week, or about ll."),000 a year. 



At Jersey City, across the river from New 

 York, is situated another large establishment 

 of this kind. It is not only a slaughter-house, 

 but the receiving point for the greater por- 

 tion of the cattle coming into New York. It 

 is very favorably situated, being not more 

 than a mile by water from aiiy of the Euro- 

 pean steamship wharves, and cattle for export 

 can be shipped by boat from the abattoir 

 direct to the side of the vessel. For this rea- 

 son it is the principal place from which the 

 live stock export traffic is done. The stock 

 yard covers several acres, and is divided into 



large pens, partly roofed over, with water 

 troughs and hay racks running along the 

 sides. They aft'ord accommodation for about 

 3,000 cattle, and the charge per head for each 

 animal entering the yard, no matter how long 

 or short may bo the period of its stay, is forty 

 cents. During the time they are kept in the 

 yard they are fed at the owner's expense. 

 The .slaughter-house proper is a building 250 

 feet front ))y :iUO deep, but with the offices 

 and other additions the buildings cover an 

 area of 270 by 300 feet. 



The cattle coining into New York average 

 from 700 pounds to 800 pounds in weight, and 

 at ten cents per pound, about the usual figure, 

 bring §70 to 880 each on the hoof. The 

 method of killing is essentially the same in 

 all the New York slaughter-houses. A rope 

 is fastened around the animal's hind legs, and 

 he is lifted off his feet by means of a block 

 and tackle, so that he hangs with his head 

 downward, and just touching the Hoor. HiiB 

 throat is then cut with a large, sharp knife, 

 and his death is speedy and comparatively 

 free from pain. Three workmen, a dresser 

 and two assisUmts, can kill, fl.iy, cut up and 

 drtss an animal in about twenty minutes, and 

 they slaughter eighteen to twenty head daily, 

 for which they get fifty-nine <;ents per head. 



After the slaughtering for the day is at an 

 end all the buildings are flushed out with 

 water pumped from the river by steam, and 

 then carefully mopped over, so that no sign 

 of refuse of any kind is perceptible— in fact, 

 the floors, which are laid with an incline from 

 the sides to a gutter in the middle of the 

 houses, are as clean and whiti? as the decks of 

 a ship after they have been holystoned.— S/ioe 

 and Leather Reporter. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 



Professor T. J. Buriill, in the Ameriean Ag- 

 ricultKrist for ^^eventh month, states that 

 "blight" in pear and apple trees, and the 

 " yellows" of tho peach, are the results of tlie 

 presence of the minuteorganisms called bacteria 

 in the bark of the trees affected. He says, 

 " In 1877 I obspived in the fluids of blighting 

 pear trees great numbers of minute moving 

 things, which were not clearly identified as 

 bacteria till the following year. On diseased 

 parts of apple trees with twig blight, and of 

 pears also, he found drops of whitish, viscid 

 material oozing from the bark, aud this prov- 

 ed to be almost wholly made up of bacteria. 

 After some hours exposure, the mass became 

 yellowish and fiu.illy dark brown. He found 

 by taking some of this exudation he could in- 

 oculate healthy trees with a penknife, putting 

 some of the poison into the bark, and that the 

 disease would spread in the branoh. Pear 

 trees could be infected from apple trees' ; 

 showing the disease to be the same in both. 



Professor Bunill believes that the spread of 

 the disease may be checked by cutting away 

 the diseased portions, being careful to remove 

 all the infected parts, not merely those which 

 have become blackish and to observe care in 

 cleansing the knife each time, so as not to 

 spread the contamination. He thinks it pro- 

 bable that washing with carbolic acid or other 

 antiseptic washes might be useful. 



What implements could have been used for 

 drilling holes in stone implements by the 

 North American Indians has been a question. 



